1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel system and method for accurately documenting and rapidly checking the common connections provided by each wire of a cable between connector terminals located at opposite ends of the cable.
2. The Prior Art
Cables (two or more wires within a single covering) and harnesses (an assembly of discrete wires) have long been used to interconnect the various components of electrical systems. For example, cables (as used herein the term "cable" is intended to include the term "harness") are commonly used to interconnect computer peripheral devices such as keyboards and CRT terminals, printers and other types of devices to the central processing unit of a computer system. It is not uncommon in the art for cable manufacturers to have to design and make many different cables in order to provide compatible cable configurations for the many different types of computers and peripheral devices that are now available on the market.
Typically cables require testing after fabrication to ensure continuity between desired points of connection and to ensure the absence of short circuits. Continuity tests are designed to determine whether there are any breaks or unacceptably high resistances present along the length of each wire. Short circuit tests are designed to detect bare wire contact or high impedance short circuits through low resistance insulation. Continuity and short circuit tests can also be used to verify whether each wire has been properly connected between connector terminals at the ends of the cable. For example, for a terminal with a missing connection an open circuit condition is created; for a terminal incorrectly wires to another terminal, both open and/or short circuit conditions are created.
At present there is a broad range of cable test equipment that is available in the art. See, e.g., Markstein, Howard W., "Update on Cable and Harness Testing," Electronic Packaging & Production, February, 1983. Such test equipment varies from highly sophisticated computer systems which are used for testing complex cables used in applications such as electrical systems of aircraft or satellites, which may require cables having as many as one hundred thousand connecting points which must be verified, to more simple "benchtop" test equipment for testing small cables such as those used in the case of personal computers and their peripherals. While large computer test systems work well, they are also very expensive and complicated, thus making them impractical for use in connection with testing cables which are of a more simple construction.
Benchtop testers are usually designed to simply check for continuity and short circuits and to provide some sort of indication in the event of a fault. While many of these small testing devices work reasonably well, frequently they require manual testing with the use of a probe in order to trace a fault once it is detected. This, of course, can be a time consuming and tedious task.
Another problem encountered in the use of smaller benchtop cable testers is that there is no means of adequately documenting and easily verifying control information which can thereafter be used as a standard against which subsequent cables are to be checked. Inadequate documentation and verification of such standards account for additional inefficiency and wasted time.
Still a further problem is encountered in terms of interfacing different kinds of cable connectors to the test equipment. There are presently a number of different types of connectors which are used to provide the connecting terminal points for cable wiring. Since different connectors are commonly in use, it is sometimes necessary to use adapters to properly interface such connectors to the test equipment. However, if the interface is incorrectly made, it is possible to spend more time in troubleshooting the connector interface than in actually testing the cable. This leads to further inefficiency and difficulty in the use of such equipment.